TH Real Estate provides £47.8m UK student housing loan to US investor

TH Real Estate has provided a £47.8 million loan to US-based student accommodation investor TJAC Development to refinance two UK properties.

The 15-year loan was provided by TH Real Estate on behalf of a private client for its UK commercial real estate debt mandate.

The loan was written to a 65 percent loan-to-value ratio and is secured by student housing at its Elizabeth House property in Cambridge and a student accommodation scheme in London’s Bloomsbury area.

TJAC is based in Boston, Massachusetts, and invests in and develops student housing and academic centres in the US and abroad.

“TJAC Development is presently active in several international cities and is working to expand its presence throughout Europe,” said Zvi Schwarzman, managing director of TJAC Development.

“Student housing is an attractive sector with sound fundamental supply and demand factors underpinning the property performance,” added Shawn Kaufman, director of debt strategies at TH Real Estate.

TH Real Estate has been an active lender in recent weeks. The firm provided a £67.5 million junior loan as part of a £227.5 million financing with LBBW of Tribeca Holdings’ 431-451 Oxford Street retail properties in London. The firm also provided £124.6 million of senior debt in a £274.1 million joint financing with MetLife of Gaw Capital’s acquisition of 123 and 151 Buckingham Palace Road in the Victoria area of London.

“2015 is the first full year of operation for TH Real Estate’s debt platform and it has been a successful one. We look forward to 2016 as we intend to widen our scope of operation beyond the UK and make investments in select European jurisdictions,” said Christian Janssen, head of debt at TH Real Estate.